B.C. rescuer considers naming newborn after sea turtle returned to the wild

METCHOSIN, B.C. -

Sean Hutchinson is watching a video featuring a creature he now calls a friend – which he once named after himself.

“I jokingly said, ‘We might as well name her Shauna,’” Sean says of their first meeting. “(But in the end) it was Moira.”

But in the beginning, when Sean was out on the ocean in his boat, Moira was an unexpected discovery hidden under kelp.

“A head popped up and looked at us,” Sean recalls with a smile. “It was the ‘Oh my God’ moment.”

She was a sea turtle, which Sean knew was nowhere near native to the area.

“She’d kind of follow us a little bit,” Sean says. “Almost asking for help.”

That’s when Sean remembered hearing about a friend of a friend whose wife was a marine zoologist, and called Dr Anna Hall.

“I dropped everything,” Anna recalls with a laugh. “Sunday dinner was still sitting on the counter. I just left.”

The turtle was very far from it’s more tropical home — only the second one ever sighted along the relatively frigid B.C. coast — and suffering from severe hypothermia.

“It looked like a creature moving towards the end of its life,” Anna says.

So Anna raced to orchestrate a rescue at sea, while more volunteers and onlookers scrambled on land to borrow a wheelbarrow and secure cushions to create a carrier for the creature.

“And sure enough, a wheelbarrow does fit in the back of my car with a large sea turtle in it,” Anna smiles.

During the five-hour journey from Vancouver Island to the Vancouver Aquarium, Sean sat in the back keeping Moira hydrated, and staff at BC Ferries stepped up to ensure the turtle got on the first available ship to the mainland.

A team from the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre have spent the past eight months rehabilitating the turtle and named her Moira.

“Everyone was so happy that the turtle made it to the people who know how to care for her,” Anna smiles.

Now, the first caring person on Moira’s journey of recovery, is watching the final footage of the turtle being assessed at Sea World in San Diego.

Moira was equipped with a tracker on her shell to monitor her safety before being released into the much warmer waters off the southern California coast.

“It’s humbling to know she’s finally back in the wild where she belongs,” Sean says, watching the video of Moira swimming in California. “It’s a full inspirational story.”

A story with an endearing epilogue, now that Sean and his wife are expecting a baby girl.

“I mentioned that we should call (our daughter) Moira,” Sean smiles. “So that’s up for discussion.”

While Sean is thankful for all the turtle toys they received at their recent baby shower, the greatest gift is knowing that Moira is back home.